Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Accessories: Miscellaneous Q&A

Last week I started a miniseries on accessories, where I listed my can't-live-withouts as well as some other options. (Catch up HERE.) Today we're following that up by going through some miscellaneous questions. Here goes!

How do I accessorize without looking too over the top for every day?

I touched on this a little in the last post, but for me it's less about the amount of accessories I'm wearing and more about the type of accessory I choose that really affects how fancy or how casual I look. I think it's easy to throw on a scarf over a t-shirt and not feel over the top by any means. However, if weather doesn't agree with a scarf I usually opt for a pendant or a statement necklace. As I showed last week, you can get fancy statement necklaces that are sparkly and metallic, but those would likely make you feel over the top. For casual outfits one of my go-to's for a while was a yellow and grey necklace (HERE) as seen in the pic below:

It's never felt too "blingy" or fancy, and I've never gotten asked, "Why are you so dressed up?" while wearing it. Rather, I got complimented a lot! (And for context, in the past I wore a cotton jersey dress and asked why I was so dressed up, so it's a big deal if I can wear a necklace and not have anyone ask that question.)

I also really like leather accessories like the earrings or cuffs from Nickel & Suede. They're easy to wear with t-shirts and any type of cotton or cotton jersey material (aka super comfy casual stuff) and be accessorized while still looking casual.

Additionally, pendants make less of a statement than statement necklaces (duh), and are a simple thing to throw over your neck without looking over the top.

How do I find statement necklaces that aren't heavy on my neck? Love the style, but my back is hypersensitive. Suggestions?
I'm not sure what your tolerance level is for heaviness, but I don't have recs for super duper lightweight statement necklaces that feel like you're wearing nothing. Most of my necklaces definitely feel like I'm wearing a necklace, but I tend to not like ones that are made of very thick, heavy metal because they're too heavy for me too.

1st pic (teal): The beads are hollow, so that helps with the weight.
2nd pic (gold): The metal is pretty thin and just overall not very heavy.
3rd pic (light pink): Each of the little jewels are plastic, and the metal circumference of each jewel is very light.
4th pic (black): Also plastic, flat jewels.

And remember, if all statement necklaces are too heavy for you, try a pendant!

Review using belts with outfits. Can all figure shapes use belts?
I believe so! I've watched enough What Not to Wear to have seen Stacy and Clinton use a belt on women with all sorts of figures. For almost every single person, regardless of their shape, they'd say to put a belt right under your bust to let the shirt flow out and away from your body at your midsection, giving the illusion of a more proportional figure. There is a post on belt placements HERE and one on belting curves HERE.

Match purse and shoes or? Sometimes I see people who are too ‘matchy-matchy' with shoes, belt and purse all the same color. That seems to be too much. I get stuck on brown shoes/brown purse all the time.
I'm often a culprit of matching tan shoes with my tan bag and possibly a tan belt. Yikes! Obviously, I don't mind it much or think anything's wrong with it. :) BUT, see below for more!

Can you show some outfits that have a belt and shoes that DON'T match?
How about these?

Outfits 1-3 // Between the belt and the shoes, one is neutral and one is colored.

Outfits 4&5 // Both are neutral, but different neutrals. Again, one of the elements is the same color as something else in the outfit. In outfit #4 my white sneakers match the white in my dress. In outfit #5 my black wedges go with the black in the print and blazer.

Outfit #6 // Two different colors--pale blue belt with pale purpleish/grey pumps. What I think makes this work is that the colors are in the same family of pastels, so there is some cohesion.

I don't think any of these are "rules," and I wasn't conscious that I was doing this when I put these outfits together. I just noticed them while putting together the collage, so if you're trying to figure out how to do a belt and shoes that don't match, try some of those tips!

When you wear statement necklaces, how do you coordinate earrings? I never know if I should skip them or just wear simple studs. Does it matter if the metal tones match exactly? I'm not a huge fan of matchy matchy sets, but what do you think?
This was asked quite a bit in various forms, and honestly I'm not totally sure what the answer is! I also don't know if there's a "right" or "wrong." I personally tend not to wear earrings with statement necklaces at the same time because I like to keep it a little simpler. If I wear earrings, I might put on studs, though I have worn a statement necklace with longer earrings HERE. However, I have some friends who LOVE being colorful and blinged out on jewelry and would totally feel naked without a bold statement necklace AND bold earrings--and they look GOOD doing it! It's just their style, and they rock it every time.

I think the key is to make sure the jewelry doesn't compete and that no matter how many pieces you wear together, that they all work together to enhance your overall look rather than looking confusing.

Sorry, not a very helpful answer!

I have trouble figuring out what type of jewelry goes well together, and with what type of outfit. I like to wear necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, but how do I know when to stop? If I wear a statement necklace, am I supposed to wear matching earrings, and if I do that should I not wear a bracelet? And if I have colorful earrings does it look bad to wear a different color necklace (or same/different colored shoes?)?
Whew, this feels like a huge question! I usually start with one piece that I want to feature, and then I add--or don't add--according to what will add to the outfit without being so much that it's distracting. In my case, it'd usually be a statement necklace with a bracelet (or by itself), or earrings with a bracelet. But I also tend to wear pretty large pieces of jewelry. If all of your jewelry is delicate, then you could probably wear necklaces, bracelets, and earrings together without them competing too much.

Thanks for all your questions! If anyone has advice to add, please do in the comments!

There were also some questions that were more specific about necklaces which will be addressed next time, so stay tuned. Have a great Wednesday!

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